Mark Spiegel Short Tesla Presentation: Kase Learning Conference

We're posting up a series of presentations from the recent Kase Learning Short Selling Conference.  Next up is Mark Spiegel who pitched short Tesla (TSLA).  He thinks the company is a zero.


Mark Spiegel's Presentation: Short Tesla (TSLA)

- Telsa's financials are horrible and has no moat of any kind, and this is all before a ton of competition comes online

- Management can't be trusted after Elon Musk made misleading statements

- Lost over $25,000 per car sold based on recent earnings.  Sales of two top models were down double digits year-over-year, again this is before top competition comes online from Porsche, Jaguar and others

- $2.3 billion in negative net working capital, And - $1bn in negative net working capital.  Bulls point to the story being about 'the future' but Tesla's tax credits will expire later this year while competitors will just be starting to use their credits.

- Competition coming:  Jaguar I-Pace coming out is $10,000 less and much nicer.  Jaguar XJ Sedan also going electric.  Audi electric SUV coming 2018 winter and priced $5000 cheaper once Tesla's tax credit runs out.  Porsche's Mission E sedan coming.  Mercedes' ECQ coming out and electric version of the S Class.  Hyundai coming out with a crossover for the mass market.  Chevrolet Bolt out now.  Nissan Leaf next year increases electric range.  First electric Volvo comes out next year.  BMW iX3 comes out in 2 years, and i4 flagship electric car.  The list goes on and on.

-  China is a big market and very important; bulls think TSLA will gain share there but the reality is that so much competition is coming especially in that country that they've already lost

-  Other car companies using larger battery cells and Tesla is committed to smaller, inferior ones

-  Stunning number of executive departures.  Jim Chanos said the only two companies that had similar numbers are Enron and Valeant

Embedded below is the video of Mark Spiegel's presentation:




Be sure to check out the rest of the presentations from the Kase Learning Short Selling Conference.

Elon Musk's Recommended Reading List

If you haven't noticed before, on the right sidebar of the website we've catalogued various recommended reading lists from top investors.  Many of these investors have recommended expanding your horizons beyond just books on investing.

So this time around we're taking a look at a recommendations from an entrepreneur.  Elon Musk is the founder of electric car company Tesla (TSLA), space exploration company SpaceX, and he also previously co-founded online payments firm PayPal (PYPL).

Here are books Elon Musk has recommended over the years, as well as books he said shaped him into who he is today.


Elon Musk's Recommended Reading List

  Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel

  Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom

  Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Orestes and Erik M. Conway

  Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down by J.E. Gordon

  Nikola Tesla Biographies: Musk didn't specify which one but there's The Tesla Autobiography as well as Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age by W. Bernard Carlson

  The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

  Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

  Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

  Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele

  Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John D. Clark  


Musk has also recommended various fiction books such as The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, as well as The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.


If you're looking for more investing-focused books, be sure to check out Charlie Munger's recommended reading list as well as Seth Klarman's favorite books.